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Sunday, 27 April 2014

Back On The Pitch

It took me a
while to get to sleep last night. I was getting a bit excited about being
allowed to warm up with the team playing Canada today!

Now for those
of you who know me you'll know my feelings on warm ups! I really believe that what
you do in your mind to be ready is the most important before a game,
physiologically there is clearly a need but it doesn't mean I enjoy it. I often
wonder how many warm ups I've done in my lifetime: in the last week I've done
12, which is quite typical, so that multiplied by the number of training weeks
and years I’ve been playing it must be getting close to tens of thousands. This
surely makes my feelings on warm ups more understandable, today’s warm up
though was a special one.

One thing I’ve
not mentioned up until now is the role of nutrition on my recovery. This is
something I’m extremely conscious of anyway as over the years I’ve learnt to
appreciate the impact it can have on performance. The last two weeks have been
particularly crucial; due to the increase in training my susceptibility to
illness has also increased, and getting ill was something I couldn’t afford to
happen. Supplements have played their part: fish oils, vitamin C, creatine,
beetroot juice, cherry active are all things I wouldn’t normally take but my
nutritionist wanted to not leave any stone unturned.

Daily supplements which have massively helped my recovery

I know I won’t
get any sympathy for this comment but one of the hardest challenges for me has
been to get enough calories in! I’ve been getting up early to make smoothies,
and eating snacks left, right and centre to get the right amount of
carbohydrates and protein. I’m a really slow eater though and sometimes there
just isn’t enough time for me to eat enough food. It did at one point take me
back to my U21 England days, when the coach would force me to stay at breakfast
and eat toast against my will. I’d sit there for ages, chewing away, trying to
get it down me and I hated it.

I definitely
feel better and very strong for all the calories. A few test results have shown
that my legs have grown in size by two to three centimetres in diameter and I’m
more powerful because I can jump higher. Even though I know it will be tough,
this is really encouraging for when I return to hockey this week.

I’m obviously
looking forward to returning to the group and joining in training for the first
time since February. It will be weird to be back as my identity for the last
eight weeks has been as a rehab athlete, where I’ve been in control of my own
training, working with a small group of professionals who have all done all
they can to help me and I’ve become comfortable within that environment. Now I
need to change to being a hockey player again, getting my astro shoes on,
checking I’ve got my stick, shin pads and gum shield. I’ve worked incredibly
hard to be here at this point in time and this is the time to not let up and
keep pushing on.